


Peculiar Interests

by myladyladybug



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Mermaid Alya, Pirate/Mermaid AU, pirate nino
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 11:35:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17042984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myladyladybug/pseuds/myladyladybug
Summary: As a part of mlsecretsanta on Tumblr! A gift to shelltershock.





	Peculiar Interests

**Author's Note:**

> As a part of mlsecretsanta on Tumblr! A gift to shelltershock.

“You need to stop going up there!” Marinette warned. Alya rolled her eyes dramatically, smirking at the histrionics of her best friend’s worry. They had been over this a countless amount of times already, having ventured where they weren’t meant to too many times to count. And each time, Marinette insisted on convincing Alya that they shouldn’t go. And each time, she failed. 

“We’ll be fine; we always are. Besides, aren’t you interested in what those humans do up there?” Marinette turned away quickly, knowing her face would betray her. Their talks had become less of a time to convince Alya to stay, and more of a time to convince Marinette to go.

“Not really,” she lied. Alya huddled up to her in an attempt to force her attention.

“Think about it.” Her voice was full of determination. “There’s just a world of fashion inspiration waiting to be discovered!” That got a smirk out of Marinette.

“You’re only saying that so you can get more for your newsletter,” she retorted pointedly.

“Two clams, one stone,” Alya shrugged. Marinette bit her lip.

“I don’t know…”

“Suit yourself!” Without another word, Alya dashed away, leaving Marinette to panic and follow.

“Alya!” They swam side by side, chattering away to pass the time and distract Marinette from finding any new reasons to turn back.

“Where are we?” Marinette muttered, eyeing her surroundings cautiously as they neared their destination. All around them were boats, floating heartily about, and the sight of them made her exceedingly nervous. This was definitely not their usual excursion.

“I found this great new place,” Alya explained, pushing forward, not minding at all that her friend was having a breakdown.

“It’s really shallow…” Marinette continued. Her eyes darted around the narrowing expanse between the ocean floor and the end of the water above. More and more human objects were coming into view.

“It’s fine! We’re not going that far up. Almost there.”

“Alya, I don’t think I’ll be able to get much inspiration here.” Her eyes darted every which way, anxiety running through her. “Not while I’m freaking out!” Without noticing it, Alya had stopped, causing Marinette to collide with her.

“We’re here!” she announced.

“There are so many boats,” Marinette whispered mostly to herself, gripping Alya’s shoulder.

“That’s because this is where they all come to.” Alya winked and swam forward again, looking between every boat she could get to.

“But that means that-”

“There are humans here!” Alya finished excitedly.

“Alya! You know we’re not supposed to be around humans!”

“Yeah, but they’ve never seen us. And this will be great for my newsletter. It’s all about investigative insight.” Alya produced a notebook and pen of sorts and began writing down her observations. The boats came in so many different colours. It seemed that human transportation methods differed vastly in shape, size, and colour. She’d been spending the last little while figuring out how these things could float with so many humans aboard it. It wasn’t exactly something she could test out back home. She really had to be up close and personal with these contraptions. Humans were just so strange and fascinating.

She wondered if it had something to do with the tops of the boats. For the longest time, she really only got to study what was below the water, and shipwrecks weren’t really much to go by if they were all sitting at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe if she could just get a peek…

Alya hesitated for only a moment before she swam up and broke through the surface of the water. When Marinette followed, her expression was stern and demanding now, not at all like the passive and uncertain look she showed when she tried to convince Alya not to investigate humans.

“That’s it! This is too dangerous. It’s one thing to look at humans and their things, but to risk being seen!” She tugged Alya’s arm forcefully, bringing her back out of view.

“I’ll be careful. I promise.”

“Careful or not, it’s a big risk. I really rather you didn’t do it at all.”

“How are you supposed to see what they’re wearing from down here?” Marinette only replied with a no-nonsense look, an eyebrow raised in complete exhaustion. Alya threw her hands up into the air. “Fine. I’ll stay below water.”

The second Marinette had her back turned, Alya began plotting ways and moments for a peek up above. She was bounding with curiosity. Not only would she get to see a boat above the water, but she might get to see land! Land; where humans walked and congregated. She might even see a human, although hopefully from afar. No matter how curious she was, she did not have a death wish. Her investigation would certainly not have to go that far.

So, when Alya finally plucked up the courage to expose herself to the salty sea air, he was the last thing she had expected to see. Of course, she had been aware of the possibility and the danger, but it felt so unlikely that…

The only thoughts that came to her mind were littered with profanity. He stared blankly at her, clearly doing everything in his power to process what he was seeing. Alya froze in the moment, fear washing over her. She had done something that her people have warned her against all her life, and it was time to face the consequences. Now, she only had to consider what those consequences were. Seeing as neither of them had made a move, she decided that things could play her offer. There wasn’t a hint of malice to cross his face, and still as he stared, she could only read awe and confusion.

Thinking quickly, Alya dove off to a hiding spot she had used when she initially began scouting the safety of this area: a cove just around the bend of dock and out of sight. It had been close enough for her to stay nearby and hidden, and it would continue to work for her now. As she headed toward the cove, she stopped every now and then to look back at that boy. If he was as curious as she was, maybe he would follow her. At worst, she would have lost one of her most favourite hiding spots.

As soon as she dipped her head back into the water, she was face to face with a  frantic and furious Marinette. Before allowing her to speak, Alya explained.

“Just go home!” she said in whispered determination, even though there was no reason for her to whisper. “I’ll… lure him away and meet you back there.” In truth, there was no reason why she could not run away in this moment. In truth, she wanted to see what would happen. It was probably not a good idea but…

Alya was on her way to the cove before she even realized. The human was on her trail, not a single look of aggression crossing his face. It was primarily her reason for even bobbing up to check on him.

The cove she had found was small, the rocks lining the water so jagged that nobody really bothered with the area. It took some maneuvering, but the human finally made his way close enough to the water, panting while he stood frozen before her.

His lips twitched in what looked like a smile, and Alya swallowed hard. Her breaths were shallow, and she could feel the light-headedness come on. As if wakening from a trance, he drew back slightly, and glanced around the cove. Alya slowly sunk down into the water, wanting to hide herself away from prying eyes, but reluctant to leave him.

The boy bit his lip and slowly bent his legs, lowering himself as far as he could and finding a comfortable rock to sit on, never breaking eye contact. She could hear how shallow his breaths were as well, as if both of them were filled with dread and anticipation.

“Hello,” he breathed. His voice was lower than she would have thought. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to respond. She was still unsure about trusting him. Her brows furrowed deeply at the consideration. “I don’t want to hurt you!” the boy amended quickly when he noticed her concern.

Squinting her eyes and screwing up her face, Alya surveyed the strange boy. She’d never been this close to a human before, let alone have one try to talk to her. It was exhilarating. Half of him looked normal, while the other half… legs.  She focused on the normal half, the lower half causing her to panic more than she thought she would. He was… cute. Tanned skin, short cropped hair, amber eyes. These thoughts only penetrated her fears for a brief moment.

Her instinct screamed as everything in her being wanted to swim away and never return, and yet she remained frozen. Why was he being so kind to her? Was it a trap? Did she make a mistake? Or was she right about humans?  
Seeing her hesitance, the boy made a move forward, inching toward her in the most non-threatening way he could.

“My… my name is Nino. Nino Lahiffe. What can I call you?” She did not answer him, only staring with eyes that analyzed his every movement. “Do you… understand me?” Still, she remained silent and taciturn. “Do you… speak French?” Sighing, he sat heavily by the rocks, resigned to her quiet stillness.

“I’ve learned some.” When she spoke, Nino leapt violently, piercing himself with the sharper of the rocks on which he sat. His grimace of pain did not mask the elation that flooded his cheeks.

“Oh! Uhm. Wow.” She noted his tendency to be overly articulate. Suddenly embarrassed by his staring, Alya strained for something else to occupy them.

“I listen to you humans a lot. Eventually, I learned some of it.”

“That’s amazing,” Nino breathed. “You’re… interested in humans?” His eyes were practically sparkling with interest of his own. 

“Not in the way I think you’re thinking,” she smirked, bringing a blush to Nino’s cheeks. “Humans are different.” She settled herself in a more comfortable position, preparing for what felt to be a longer conversation than she expected.

Though admittedly, her expectation was not to have had any conversation. This was going well. “Ever since I could remember, I was told stories of how evil humans are. Killers. Monsters. Barbarians.” Nino shifted uncomfortably.

“Admittedly, many of you are.” His concentrated stare could have bored a hole through the barnacle which had gained his attention. Blinking away his trancelike state, he licked his lips.

“That’s true. We’re pretty bad,” he confessed, putting a bit of distance between them. Alya drew closer, leaning her head in with interest.

“Are you?” The blush creeped back up Nino’s cheek again with renewed ferocity. He swallowed loudly.

“I’m still trying to figure that one out myself. I’d like to think I’m not one of the bad guys.”

“It’d be a nice thought,” she smirked.


End file.
